Decoding the Document
Sign Up for a Live Decoding the Document for Your Students
Unlock the power of primary sources with the National Constitution Center’s Decoding the Document, a free, live virtual program for middle and high school students nationwide. This engaging experience led by a member of the Center's education team invites students to slow down, read closely, and build the habits of mind essential to constitutional learning.
Students will:
- Learn what a primary source is and why it matters to understanding history and the Constitution;
- Practice a simple, three-step strategy to analyzing historical documents;
- Look beyond the words on the page to explore authorship, purpose, and point of view.
Whether students are new to primary sources or ready to deepen their skills, Decoding the Document offers a flexible, classroom-ready approach that educators can return to again and again—helping students build confidence, curiosity, and the skills to engage meaningfully with America’s founding documents.
What You Need to Know
- Decoding the Document sessions are free, 45-minute virtual learning experiences designed for middle and high school learners.
- Sessions are facilitated by members of the Center’s Education team and are scheduled at times that work for teachers and their students.
- Participating teachers choose from select topics that best align with what they are teaching.
- Students will need access to a one-page print-out, which will be provided after your session is confirmed.
- Decoding the Document programs are hosted on the Center’s Zoom account. Once your booking is confirmed, we will create and send a Zoom link for accessing the program. If you prefer to use your own streaming platform, please indicate during booking.
American Revolution
Thomas Paine’s widely read pamphlet urged colonists to break from Britain. Students will explore how his clear, bold arguments helped push the growing movement for independence.
Drafted by the Founders, this iconic document announced the colonies’ break from Britain and outlined universal rights. Students will examine the preamble’s language, purpose, and revolutionary ideas.
John Adams outlined his vision for a new nation, driven by the people and their happiness. Students will examine the language behind his bold ideas that influenced later founding documents.
Writing to her husband John Adams as independence was being debated, Abigail Adams urged leaders to “remember the ladies.” Students will explore her perspective on rights and representation.
As he prepared to leave office, President George Washington reflected on the challenges facing the young nation and offered advice for the future. Students will examine his warnings about political parties (then called factions) and foreign entanglements and consider their relevance today.
Civil Rights
Speaking before a federal court in 1879, Chief Standing Bear argued that Native Americans should be recognized as persons under the law. Students will explore how he uses personal experience and powerful language to appeal for justice and equal treatment.
Written from Birmingham City Jail in 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. reminded the American people of the power of nonviolent protest to challenge racial segregation and political inequality. Students will learn about Martin Luther King's impact on the Civil Rights Movement and examine the First Amendment’s protection of speech, assembly, and petition.
In this landmark 2015 decision, the U.S. held that 14th Amendment protects the right of same-sex couples to marry. Students will examine Justice Anthony Kennedy’s majority opinion and explore how the Court interpreted the 14th Amendment’s protections for liberty and equality.
First Amendment
Take a deep dive into the landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling of Engel v. Vitale from 1962, where the court considered this key question: Does the reading of a nondenominational prayer at the start of the school day violate the "establishment of religion" clause of the First Amendment? In this class, students will explore the words of Justice Hugo Black’s majority opinion and its impact on how the judicial branch interprets religious freedom.
Delivered at the end of a 300-mile march to California’s capital, Dolores Huerta’s speech called attention to the struggles of farmworkers and the power of collective action. Students will investigate how Huerta uses persuasive language to inspire support for the farmworkers’ rights movement using the First Amendment’s protections of free speech, peaceful assembly, and the right to petition the government.
Slavery and Civil War
In this speech, Douglass challenged the nation to confront the gap between its ideals and the reality of slavery. Students will examine how Douglass draws on the Declaration of Independence to make his case against slavery.
Delivered during the Civil War, Lincoln’s brief speech honored those who died at Gettysburg and connected the nation’s founding principles to the struggle to preserve the Union.. Students will examine Lincoln’s invocation of equality, self-government, and a “bew birth of freedom” and consider his vision for the nation’s future.
Voting Rights
Modeled after the Declaration of Independence, the 1848 Declaration of Sentiments outlined grievances about the legal, political, and social status of women and called for greater equality, including the right to vote. Students will compare the Declaration of Sentiments and the Declaration of Independence, and explore the significance of the Seneca Falls Convention to the women's rights and suffrage movements.
Delivered at the 1866 National Women's Rights Convention, Frances Ellen Watkins Harper called attention to the intertwined struggles for racial and gender equality during Reconstruction. Students examine Harper’s arguments about rights, equality, and citizenship and consider the relationship between the movements for African American civil rights and women’s rights.
